Like any other
discipline, HR has evolved, and is continuing to do so.
I asked Ngoni
Munetsi, head of Accsys People Partners Management for his input. The article below is his response.
Known before as
Personnel Management, today we are talking of terms like Strategic Human
Resources, Talent Management, and HR Intelligence among other terms. Are there
any differences? Or is it just old wine in a new bottle? What are the current
trends and what future predictions do we have in the evolution?
The Morden view
is the alignment of HR to Business, a statement very popular in the HR
fraternity, but do we really understand how to do so?
If HR is aligned
to business, why is there a prophecy/prediction of the erosion of its
relevance, because where there is alignment there is utility, not so?
To stay
relevant, I think HR strategies must focus on the following trends;
The Strategic focus;
This cannot be
outsourced. If HR Professionals cannot transform into strategic business partners,
then they will perish. It is critical to note that strategic focus does not
replace the human factor. HR Professionals should understand the human factor
and HR implications in collaboration with business operations and strategy.
It’s all about
understanding the business, leading change and making robust predictions about
business and its talent.
HR must be
proactive. Change management is a People Management function and this requires the
creation of Visionary Leaders who understand what the future holds for their
businesses and how talent issues can, and should, be handled.
We may need to relook
HR concepts and terminology. HR Interventions require financial support and
more often than not we clash with Financial Directors as there is a widespread perception
that this is an unnecessary cost. Why do we call them Cost Centres as opposed
to Profit Centres? Or investments?
Yes, because we are investing in people, the
vital assets of any organisation.
It is also vital for the Financial Director or
CEO to interrogate some of these interventions, because the ultimate goal of
the firm is to maximise shareholders’ equity which makes them accountable. My
view is that sometimes we fail to justify our proposals to the CEOs and
ultimately we make conclusions that there is no political will. The future of
HR dictates that HR Professionals should be able to calculate ROI on each intervention
proposed and should know the Pay Back period as well. It is not tough, it is just
the business focus of HR.
The Future of HR is outsourcing
The internal HR
structure will downsize and the outsource function will increase.
Due to the
increase in the use of technology, many HR transactional processes will
increasingly be replaced by ESS Systems.
The admin heavy function of HR will be
offloaded to HR outsourcing companies. The labour legislation in the SA market
will continue to be complex and technical and will require specialist knowledge.
The benefits of outsourcing are well known and documented.
The Future of HR is marketing
Let us also have
our own HR Mix, our own 4 Ps or even 7. My HR Manager, Fari, says; “Performance is key, my Place in the organisation is important and
my “Package” is critical. I can add
to the list; “People”, “Politics”, “Pragmatism”,
“Purpose”. I believe HR Interventions must address this Mix as these form
the Brand of any entity.
I am a proponent
of Recruitment by attraction and not by attrition. Candidates get attracted to
your organisation because of the brand that you create, and the result of it is
a long lasting work relationship. HR Professionals should be image makers and brand
advocates. With the battle for skills surfacing, organisations are already
scrambling for talent. Platforms like Glassdoor have made it possible for
candidates to share experiences with past employers.
A friend of mine
once cancelled an interview whilst in the prospective organisations’ reception
area. His simple reasoning was; if they can’t maintain the grass around their premises,
what makes me think that they will be able to maintain me?
Our
Communications and Marketing Manager, Clara says; it’s not only about the brand,
it’s whether or not there is a clear fit between your own personal brand and
that of the prospective company, and that addresses the Place issue.
The Future of HR is Technology
I have said it
before; HR professionals should embrace technology. Some offices are still
paper driven; processes are transactional and not strategic, we keep plain data
with no utility.
We need to move forward and become strategists
through capitalisation of technology and analytics.
Organisations
like Accsys have invested in making HR and Payroll Offices more efficient. Elani,
one of our Sales Consultants says “Just imagine how your life can be easier
with Payroll, HR, ESS, Time & Attendance, all on one system”.
The generation Y
candidates we are attracting are tech savvy to say the least and for us to
attract and retain them, technology has to be a priority. Smart phones must
apply for leave, receive payslips, update personal data, synchronised with work
functionalities and so on.
The Future of HR is managing diversity.
The world is
fast becoming a boundless society; cultural diversity, cross pollination of
ideas, generational differences are issues to deal with. There is power and
value in differences and the key differentiator of successful organisations willl
be the ability to unlock these differences and capitalise on them.
Let’s not forget
about managing millennials; they are our customers whose characteristics we
need to understand.
As mentioned earlier, technology especially
mobile technology is close to their hearts. They socialise- through technology,
and they socialise with their parents too; they like adventure; associations
with brands; challenge hierarchical structures; they also challenge the status
quo and are advocates of change.
They want a
relationship with their manager; they are task oriented and not time oriented,
they want to work, learn and have fun, and they like flexibility, feedback and recognition.
In embracing all
of the above mentioned and current trends, I believe that the future of HR should
be embraced fully by those who own it. Only in this way, can HR contribute to
creating a competitive advantage for organisations.
Links, References and Notes
Accsys provides people management solutions ie Payroll, Human Resources (HR), Time and Attendance as well as Access Control/Visitor Management.
The company develops, implements,
trains and services our solutions. We
provide readers, turnstiles, booms and CCTV.
We run both on premise and in the
cloud, as well as mobile options for ESS.
Recruitment, online education and Outsourcing are part of our offering,
too.
http://www.accsys.co.za/accsys-peopleplace-talent-management
email:
tschroenn@accsys.co.za
twitter:
@TerylSchroenn
Note:
Thank you for reading Teryl@Work.
Should you wish to use any of the material, please acknowledge this blog
as the source.
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